Huey Long is not assassinated, but does not become President. Effects?

[El_Presidente]

Pretty much as the title says. What would have happened if Huey Long didn't die, but his plan to get the presidency failed? How would Long effect post-WW2 american politics?

 

[Clandango]

Pretty much as the title says. What would have happened if Huey Long didn't die, but his plan to get the presidency failed? How would Long effect post-WW2 american politics?

Which plan? His first plan was to purposely split the vote to cost FDR the election so Long could win the one after, though I am unsure if that plan was before or after he died. Apparently Huey also may not have been assassinated, but got shot when one of his bodyguards hit him when unloading into his attacker. And are we considering the attack never taking place or him simply surviving it? The man apparently went after Long for making public suggesting about a family having African blood in them. The family belonging to that man’s wife. Depending if he had a gun or just punched him, I can see people supporting his actions. As for Long during and after WWII, I think he will do the profiteering he did beforehand, making himself basically the only millionaire in the state.

 

[33k7]

he's probably a senator throughout the war and probably after up until the fifties Maybe at the very most late 50s

major effects to you will probably have at least one failed presidential run
probably losing a primary to Truman

he was an Ardent anti-communist though so he probably beats Joseph McCarthy to the punch in my opinion you'll be hearing of the Huey Long hearings instead of McCarthy hearings

 

[Tjakari]

he was an Ardent anti-communist though so he probably beats Joseph McCarthy to the punch in my opinion you'll be hearing of the Huey Long hearings instead of McCarthy hearings

But was Long that tactless? The man seems like a shrewd enough operator that any analogous hearing are going to be a lot more substantive. Less actors, more Rosenburgs.

 

[Aisha Clan-Clan]

Stronger anti-communist left/labor types. Weaker second red scare.

 

[Derek Jackson]

I have the impression that Long was less racist than the average Southern politician. Is that true? What impact would it have on thr 1950s

 

[Persephone]

The man apparently went after Long for making public suggesting about a family having African blood in them. The family belonging to that man’s wife.

It absolutely wasn't this at all. He went after Long because his wife's family were part of an ardent Anti-Long faction, but more specifically because his father-in-law more or less lost his position as a state judge because he opposed Long and subsequently didn't run for re-election because Long used gerrymandering to ensure that his district was full of Pro-Long voters.

I have the impression that Long was less racist than the average Southern politician. Is that true? What impact would it have on thr 1950s

It's true, although it's up for debate whether it was out of pragmatism in order to secure the black vote or out of a genuine belief in supporting African-American rights. Personally, I view it as genuine rather than pragmatic, given his opposition to the KKK and lack of personal racial prejudice, plus the quotes speak volumes:

"Treat them just the same as anybody else, give them an opportunity to make a living, and to get an education."
— Huey Long on his Negro policy as President (Williams p.704)

"Now, just a word about the poor Negroes … They're here. They've got to be cared for … The poor Negroes have got to live, too."
— Huey Long as Governor (Williams p. 704)

"They kept on hollering, and I simply had to put my foot down. I said, 'I'm the governor and I say the ignorant in this state have to learn, blacks as well as whites.' And they learned."
— Huey Long on conservative resistance to illiteracy programs for Negroes (Williams p. 706)

"We started them to school. They learned to read. They learned to work simple arithmetic problems. Now some of our plantation owners can't figure the poor devils out of everything at the close of each year."
— Huey Long (Williams p. 524)

He was fair to colored people, good to all people. He walked the land like Jesus Christ and left nothing undone."
— Rivers Livous, "a laboring man" (T. Harry Williams, Huey Long, p. 705)

We felt he had no prejudices. He gave the Negroes and all poor people hope."
— Vivian S. Bernard, schoolteacher (Williams p. 705)

Compared to other Southern politicians of the time, he didn't rely on race-baiting and genuinely got support from African-American voters because his programs to help the poor and disenfranchised regardless of color resulted in them receiving public education, healthcare, tax exemptions, and the opportunity to vote free of charge (though local Jim Crow laws more often than not prevented them from voting). Now, as far as how the 50s would go, I'm inclined to believe that he'd be an early supporter of Civil Rights, especially in the wake of World War II and African-American service during the war. Obviously, that wouldn't be the case for the rest of the South, but you could possibly see Louisiana become a bastion of improved racial equality in an otherwise heavily racist and segregated south.

 

[SwampTiger]

As a Louisiana citizen, I dislike some, not most of his policies. I despise his corruption and control of the state government. His political machine was first turned back by the election of Dave Treen in 1971.